Introduction and Mission Trinity Academy for the Performing Arts is a small independent charter school located in Providence, Rhode Island. It is open to students that live in Providence who are in grades 7-12. Their mission is to, “develop well-rounded, educated, artistic and professional community leaders who practice service and teamwork in initiating and implementing goals, with a focus on the global society” (TAPA, “Trinity Academy for the Performing Arts.").
TAPA Overall This charter school was founded to help establish a unique arts-integration perspective on learning. Here they encourage that, “students learn math, English, science and history through drama, film, music and dance.” Unlike most schools, art is considered a core subject and is used as a catalyst for the other subjects or at the very least as a tool for connecting thing together. The arts-integration pyramid that is displayed above explains the different levels that they attempt to achieve in the classroom. Only “10-20% of […] class time is spent in the "Independent" section of the pyramid.” (TAPA, “Trinity Academy for the Performing Arts.”).
Admissions
There are 69 students at the school at the moment in grades 7-9. (Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE), 2013). By 2016 there will be children in grades 7-12. It does not charge anything to attend and a school bus is provided for many students. Admissions is based on a lottery system. Applications are taken until February 23rd of each year and the lottery takes place on March 1st. (TAPA, “Trinity Academy for the Performing Arts.”).
Accountability and Testing
The school is doing quite well in terms of accountability and its testing. As of 2012-2013 the school is considered leading based on their proficiency, gap closure, progress and distinction. They have not yet graduated any students so their score is not reflective of that, although it looks promising that most students will graduate from TAPA. Their NECAP scores are another matter. Every percentage from TAPA is lower than the state average. Granted that there are only 69 students, it still poses a problem. Writing and math scores are among their top scores. 68% of 8th graders are proficient in reading and 50% of 8th graders are proficient in writing. This is still lower than the state’s average of 77% proficient in reading and 65% proficient in writing. The 8th grade science NECAP was the worst problem. In 2011-2012, only 9% of 8th grade students were proficient. This was extremely behind the state average of 30%.(Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE), 2013).
Students
Attendance is very good at TAPA. The general attendance percentage is 96%; two points higher than the state average. Over 86% of students have never skipped school and only 4% have shown chronic absenteeism. This is much lower than the 14% of Rhode Island kids who continuously skip class. The school population is slightly more female dominated with 58% of the students being female. About 71% of students are of Latino or Hispanic dissent. There is a good percentage, about 16%, of African American students that attend TAPA. The rest of the student population is either white, Native American, Asian, or multiracial. (Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE), 2013).
In general the students approve of teacher practices. More than 50% of students believe that their teachers give clear instructions and give students enough time to complete their work. Statewide students overall only agree with this 37.5% of the time. 60% of students agree that teachers do not let things get out of control in the classroom, which is also higher than the 57% state average. About half of the students at TAPA believe that their teacher has made the effort to re-explain material different ways until the student understands it. 50% of students also believe that their teachers help them catch up on work if they missed class. Both of these statistics are about 10% higher than the state average. Most students use technology, specifically computers, for most of the core subjects. These include math, art, social studies, science and English. About 80% of TAPA students use computers for all of these subjects, while statewide the highest percentage of computer usage in school for any subject is 56.3%. These statistics demonstrate that the staff and processes at TAPA are creating a good learning environment. They want students to succeed and are willing to put the effort in to see that happen. The introduction of technology into the classroom will also help students in this ever evolving world. (Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE), 2013).
TAPA is mostly a safe school. 20% of students have reported theft at the school, and this is only about 3% higher than the state average. Overall, almost all students feel safe at and around school. About 97% of students agree that they feel safe in the hallways, and about 80% of students feel safe when they walk outside of school. Statewide only about 85% of students feel safe in the hallways and 82% feel safe outside school. Although the last statistic is a little higher than TAPA’s it is not a significant difference. Like any school there is bullying in many forms. More than 50% of students have been made fun of or insulted, which is higher than the state average of 44%. Other serious forms of bullying are less common, such as being threatened with harm. There are only about 14% of students that have encountered that. In the state the average is higher at about 16%.(Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE), 2013).
Introduction and Mission
Trinity Academy for the Performing Arts is a small independent charter school located in Providence, Rhode Island. It is open to students that live in Providence who are in grades 7-12. Their mission is to, “develop well-rounded, educated, artistic and professional community leaders who practice service and teamwork in initiating and implementing goals, with a focus on the global society” (TAPA, “Trinity Academy for the Performing Arts.").
TAPA Overall
This charter school was founded to help establish a unique arts-integration perspective on learning. Here they encourage that, “students learn math, English, science and history through drama, film, music and dance.” Unlike most schools, art is considered a core subject and is used as a catalyst for the other subjects or at the very least as a tool for connecting thing together. The arts-integration pyramid that is displayed above explains the different levels that they attempt to achieve in the classroom. Only “10-20% of […] class time is spent in the "Independent" section of the pyramid.” (TAPA, “Trinity Academy for the Performing Arts.”).
Admissions
There are 69 students at the school at the moment in grades 7-9. (Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE), 2013). By 2016 there will be children in grades 7-12. It does not charge anything to attend and a school bus is provided for many students. Admissions is based on a lottery system. Applications are taken until February 23rd of each year and the lottery takes place on March 1st. (TAPA, “Trinity Academy for the Performing Arts.”).
Accountability and Testing
The school is doing quite well in terms of accountability and its testing. As of 2012-2013 the school is considered leading based on their proficiency, gap closure, progress and distinction. They have not yet graduated any students so their score is not reflective of that, although it looks promising that most students will graduate from TAPA. Their NECAP scores are another matter. Every percentage from TAPA is lower than the state average. Granted that there are only 69 students, it still poses a problem. Writing and math scores are among their top scores. 68% of 8th graders are proficient in reading and 50% of 8th graders are proficient in writing. This is still lower than the state’s average of 77% proficient in reading and 65% proficient in writing.
The 8th grade science NECAP was the worst problem. In 2011-2012, only 9% of 8th grade students were proficient. This was extremely behind the state average of 30%.(Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE), 2013).
Students
Attendance is very good at TAPA. The general attendance percentage is 96%; two points higher than the state average. Over 86% of students have never skipped school and only 4% have shown chronic absenteeism. This is much lower than the 14% of Rhode Island kids who continuously skip class. The school population is slightly more female dominated with 58% of the students being female. About 71% of students are of Latino or Hispanic dissent. There is a good percentage, about 16%, of African American students that attend TAPA. The rest of the student population is either white, Native American, Asian, or multiracial.
(Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE), 2013).
In general the students approve of teacher practices. More than 50% of students believe that their teachers give clear instructions and give students enough time to complete their work. Statewide students overall only agree with this 37.5% of the time. 60% of students agree that teachers do not let things get out of control in the classroom, which is also higher than the 57% state average. About half of the students at TAPA believe that their teacher has made the effort to re-explain material different ways until the student understands it. 50% of students also believe that their teachers help them catch up on work if they missed class. Both of these statistics are about 10% higher than the state average. Most students use technology, specifically computers, for most of the core subjects. These include math, art, social studies, science and English. About 80% of TAPA students use computers for all of these subjects, while statewide the highest percentage of computer usage in school for any subject is 56.3%. These statistics demonstrate that the staff and processes at TAPA are creating a good learning environment. They want students to succeed and are willing to put the effort in to see that happen. The introduction of technology into the classroom will also help students in this ever evolving world.
(Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE), 2013).
TAPA is mostly a safe school. 20% of students have reported theft at the school, and this is only about 3% higher than the state average. Overall, almost all students feel safe at and around school. About 97% of students agree that they feel safe in the hallways, and about 80% of students feel safe when they walk outside of school. Statewide only about 85% of students feel safe in the hallways and 82% feel safe outside school. Although the last statistic is a little higher than TAPA’s it is not a significant difference. Like any school there is bullying in many forms. More than 50% of students have been made fun of or insulted, which is higher than the state average of 44%. Other serious forms of bullying are less common, such as being threatened with harm. There are only about 14% of students that have encountered that. In the state the average is higher at about 16%.(Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE), 2013).
References:
RIDE. (2013, October 29). InfoWorks! Rhode Island Education Data Reporting - RIDE.ri.gov. Retrieved October 30, 2013, from http://infoworks.ride.ri.gov/school/trinity-academy-for-the-performing-arts
TAPA. (2013, October 29). Trinity Academy for the Performing Arts. Retrieved October 30, 2013, from http://www.trinityacademyfortheperformingarts.org/mission.html